"Week of" recital prep...

It’s the week of this recital I’ve been prepping for since the end of January. 

A good solid three months. Or close to it.

Practicing in the pockets of my day. Or huge chunks of my “snow” days and occasional weekend. LOL.

It’s tough. It’s hard preparing for something when you have a full-time (draining!) job and a part-time one. 

It’s especially hard when you are a bit of a perfectionist (I’m putting that mildly...) and used to pursue a career as a concert pianist. And attained a certain level of performance which is no longer realistic just because that is NOT your current career choice.

I don’t have hours a day to practice like I did in college. 

Or access to a Steinway grand piano every day.

I have a 14-year old digital piano at home.

And good friends with grand pianos that I can, on occasion, practice on. 😃 

The reality is that there is a certain level of performance, or confidence in performance, that is very difficult to attain just because of the limited time that I have. 

So, there is an inner-conflict going on. 

A letting go that has to happen.

It will be what it will be.

My friend (with whom I am playing this recital with) and I were joking during our last rehearsal how we have been putting this together in the “fringes” of our day. It’s that corner of the room that you never get around to cleaning and is dusty and has cobwebs forming. It’s that part of our day, that itty bitty corner, that we are somehow, magically, fitting in the rehearsal and individual practice time. 

I had a student ask me the other day how long the recital is. 

I answered, “It’s about an hour of music.”

“What?!?! That is soooooo long! How many pages is that?”

Hmmmm…I don’t actually know. Maybe slightly under 100?

So I counted the other day. 

109. 

That’s right. 109 pages of music. 44 of which is solo piano music and memorized. (EEEEK!)

(this is my quick math on scrap paper...LOL!)

I gotta give myself some credit for that. And a break.

In the pockets of my day I have managed to practiced 109 pages of music.

Goodness gracious, Larissa. Go easy on yourself, girl.

So I watch videos like this to help me take things less seriously:

We are opening with the "Habanera" from Carmen, by the way.

I love the Muppets. 

Here’s to trusting the process. Trusting the preparation. And letting things be what they will be.

And being satisfied with that. (the toughest part!)

Yesterday’s workout:

Do what makes you happy.